Is Canada being run by the super villain of climate change?
After reading the latest environmental initiative by the Conservative government – one that will see a scientific vessel leased to BP and Imperial oil for $50,000 a day – it sure seems likely.
The image that immediately comes to mind is one of Stephen Harper sitting in his office in a high-backed chair, purposefully stroking a white cat.
Amid the budget cuts and expenditure slashing the most recent organization to get the axe is the Canadian Foundation for Climate and Atmospheric Sciences. Founded in 2000, three years after the Canadian government committed to Kyoto, the research group operated the Amundsen, a coastal icebreaker equipped to monitor climate change.
This year, the Amundsen will continue to plow a path through the Arctic, but in the name of exploitation, rather than in the pursuit of scientific exploration.
This shift in the ship’s commission reflects the Canadian government’s disinterest in environmental protection, despite all the talk to the contrary and despite Canada’s position as a guardian of the Arctic.
But lack of concern on the part of the government cannot be pinned to a specific political party. This most recent failure to take conservation issues seriously is indicative of the tendency to prioritize business over the environment in Canadian politics.
When Canada signed and ratified Kyoto in 1997, a promise was made to the inhabitants of this planet that we would do our utmost to prevent a climate catastrophe.
We set ambitious goals – in line with the other developed nations – to reduce emissions by six per cent and increase our commitment to green energy.
But in Copenhagen this year it became abundantly clear that all Canada had done was engage in some rather pretty posturing. Internationally, we have been consistently criticized for our lack of comprehensive policy on combating climate change, as well as our ‘promise now, deliver later’ attitude.
Three prime ministers have overseen a 25-per-cent increase in our emissions and done little to develop a strategy to reduce it.
In fact, oil exploration and the development of the Alberta oil sands have been high on the priority list, garnering criticism from other nations that feel as though Canada isn’t doing its part.
In the wake of the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon, which led to the most disastrous oil spill in history, scientists and industry professionals alike have been debating possible strategies to prevent and mitigate any future spills, particularly concerning deepwater rigs.
The consensus is that the presence of a relief well in the Gulf would have drastically reduced the amount of crude leaked into the ocean.
Domestically, this raises concern over oil exploration in the Arctic as Canada’s National Energy Board has concluded that the drilling of a deepwater well and a relief well would not be possible in the same season, due to all the ice.
As we begin to look to the North as a viable trade route, we will need to pay closer attention to the seasonal melt and what this means for navigation, development of industry and the environment.
Sounds like an issue about which Canadians could use a little more education.
If only there were some sort of ship, a vessel equipped to monitor these changes and provide us with the accurate information we need to make responsible decisions in the future.